A decade ago the then High Commissioner Sadako Ogata told a global conference that the "relationship between refugees and the environment has long been overlooked." In what was then probably the most comprehensive policy statement on the subject, Mrs. Ogata not only underlined the obvious link between large scale refugee flight and ecological destruction, but also noted that civilians were often forced to flee in the first place because of environmental degradation and the battle for natural resources.

The war in Sierra Leone, for instance, was one of the most vicious of modern times in which tens of thousands of persons were killed and even larger numbers became refugees and was partially ignited by the battle for control of the country's vast diamond wealth.

Ogata promised UNHCR would become more involved and in the intervening 10 years environmental issues in general have become more ‘newsworthy'. A world summit on the environment and sustainable development will be held in South Africa later this year.

UNHCR programs now cover a wide range of activities. Educational programs via eco-clubs, classroom lectures and local theatre explain both problems and solutions to refugees, local communities and government officials. The agency and famed scientist Jane Goodall are exploring the possibility of introducing her popular Roots and Shoots club concept in refugee camps.

Reforestation and tree planting are cornerstones of UNHCR's efforts, but other activities range from simple gardening techniques, the introduction of energy saving stoves, supporting local game wardens to employing high tech satellite imagery.

More needs to be done, both in practical terms and in recognizing the importance of the issue. Environmental projects are often still regarded as ‘luxuries' to be implemented only when more urgent matters are attended to when, in fact, eco-related problems can be highly political and spill over into protection, security, food and health fields.

Programs are expensive. Manpower resources are scarce, but this is a particularly critical time in the refugee environmental cycle. In the Horn of Africa more than 30 camps are scheduled to close in the near future and the refugee agency will undertake one of its most ambitious cleanup operations.

As hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees return home as many as 200 sites in Pakistan, which hosted millions of Afghans for many years, may need rehabilitating. Afghanistan itself is gripped by another drought which will affect millions of people.

If Mrs. Ogata raised the alarm a decade ago, High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers recently re-emphasized the message that if environmental problems are ignored, this could jeopardize the very institution of asylum.

Source: Refugees Magazine Issue 127: "The Environment – A Critical Time" (July 2002). Download the complete issue in pdf format: low-resolution (830Kb) here or high-resolution (1.5Mb) here. Visit UNHCR's environment pages here.